Ambient Worlds – Ana Roxanne

At the beginning of this month, I attended Ana Roxannes’ London show in Camden, opened by Meitei. Roxanne is an artist who I’ve referenced before many times, as her ambient world-building through a “minimal” perspective has become very influential in my practice. In her performance, she used a sp-404 to sample and loop layers and layers of texture using a bass guitar, a delay pedal, and her voice. Her latest album, ‘Because of a Flower’ explores the experience of identifying as intersex through a collection of spoken word texts, wisps, and whispers, sanctuary and sorrow, all channeled through in a final product of voice, bass, space, and texture. This sort of sound is hard to write about, little words are said but the sound itself is dense and textured. Roxannes’ minimal approach toward ambiance does not fail to prove its impact, she creates this sort of dense-peaceful ambience that is individual and beautiful. In terms of expanding into performance, I would say Roxanne is my biggest influence in moving toward that. There is an element of simplicity and improvisation that was consistent throughout the performance that I find both beautiful and approachable. It feels as if Roxanne tries to communicate through the texture of sound the emotion of each song and each piece; creating a devotional, spiritual atmosphere. In my own practice, I find Roxanne has an influence in understanding the simplicity, but also the density of how sound can be used to communicate through an ambient framework. Ambient sound allows us to rest our compulsion to focus, from this I have recently been researching familiarity as a stepping point. By this, I mean using a sense of familiarity in sound as a pathway into a palette of sounds and instruments. From a neurological perspective, finding a sense of familiarity in a simple approachable method can be vital when it comes to processing and understanding.